


Evil that Rots the Core

by Orphaned_PigeonKids



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: A very different take on Battle City, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Choking, Graphic Description, Graphic Description of Corpses, Murder, Necrosis, Other, Rotting, There will be no happy ending, This is basically Battle City but Yami Marik is much more, Very graphic, effective, your favorite character is probably going to die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:59:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orphaned_PigeonKids/pseuds/Orphaned_PigeonKids
Summary: An alternate take on the Battle City arc from Yugioh starting from the point Rishid/Odion summons Ra. This is a sort of retelling of Battle City if Yami Marik was much much more terrifying and a real embodiment of pain completely uninterested in the god cards or millenium items. With only one goal in mind, wreak as much pain and havoc as possible in the span he has.





	1. The Darkness Awakens

**Author's Note:**

> This, again, is going to be VERY graphic. If you are easily set off by choking, murder, mutilation, graphic depictions of rotting, corpses, and terror. I advice you not read this. It's more of a somewhat character developing thing. Yami Marik is my favorite Yugioh character (along with Bonz) and there are two ways I want to write him. Later will be the much more positive way but this is the depiction of him as a embodiment of evil with no self preservation and no morals. I also don't write enough so if it seems wonky that's definitely my fault, I'm rusty. Enjoy?

The thunderous crash of lighting and thunder echoed around the illuminated blimp that shook with the frenzy above as golden light cascaded down onto the platform atop the blimp. The eyes of the contestants looked on in a mix of shock and terror as the fiery golden wings of a dragon spread across the dark and rolling storm clouds that surrounded them all.

“I awaken thee! The Winged Dragon of Ra!” Rishid cried out as the flaming dragon above him cried in untold rage, it’s wings raising high into the thundering clouds above as lighting snaked its way through them like rivulets of water. On the sidelines one onlooker was nearly standing on the tips of his feet, eyes wide in a trance like state and heart hammering a million miles a minute as his now sweaty palms almost let the golden rod hidden behind his back slip.

_ Ra. _ How magnificent it was to behold! His wide eyes flicked to the people next to him who covered their mouths in fear or gaped hopelessly at the god before them. The buffoons poor friends and the pharaoh who could do nothing but look on as their friend faced off against something no mortal should ever witness. 

‘ _ YES!’ _ His mind screamed as his breath hitched slightly.  _ ‘Feel Ra’s anger! The anger of the tomb keepers, the anger of years of servitude with no hope of escape! Feel it and anguish pharoah as  _ I  _ take your place as a God!’  _ The rod slipped again and he tightened his grip on it, knuckles white with anticipation as Ra reared its mighty head, flames licking at the corners of its maw.

Rishid raised his faux Millenium Rod and pointed it at Jounouchi whose eyes were wide with shock, gold dancing across his features as Ra’s flames grew. “Go Ra! Incinerate him with your holy flames!” Rishid commanded and the dragon cried once again, but did not strike. The flames that had built to a ball of fire were swept out of existence by the clouds and Ra’s form shuddered like rippling water for a moment, a cry sounding again. Rishid lowered the rod slightly and looked up to the god in brief confusion before his jade eyes widened. Ra did not heed his command. Ra did not heed  _ him. _

Marik’s excited heart stopped for a moment and his thin brows furrowed in confusion. What was Ra doing? Why wasn’t it attacking like commanded? A quick spark of electricity that numbed the muscles in his arm caused him to gasp and grip the duel disk attached to his forearm. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. A great ancient power was resonating from his cards, a great anger that sent lightning up his arm and numbness spreading through his limbs. Marik quickly looked back up at the duel to lock eyes with Rishid who wore a saddened look on his face. Marik felt his heart pick back up as fear raced in his veins, the trance of seeing Ra broken and the raw fear of what he knew was to come hitting him full force. He’d seen countless expendable pawns obliterated by a using a fake Ra, inciting the gods anger, however Rishid should be different right? He was family, he was an honorary tomb keeper! He was-

Lightning screamed out of the sky in a loud crack and collided with the dueling stage with such force the blimp vibrated from the impact. Anzu started and backed away quickly from the stage as most of the onlookers did likewise, more bolts making impact against the metal stage. “Jounouchi MOVE!” Honda shouted and Otogi grabbed his friends jacket to give him a yank back to safety. “You need to move too!” He shouted and Yami felt his hands begin to tremble as lighting struck dangerously close to his friend. What was happening?! 

Jounouchi took a step back and looked up in wide eyed confusion and fear at the man across from him who stood solemnly, not batting an eye at the lighting that struck dangerously close to him. “C’mon! You have to move from there or you’ll be killed!” He tried to shout over the cracks of electricity and buffeting wind that had risen along with the god. But the man only looked to him with saddened eyes, little will left in them as Rishid made peace with what he was not. A tomb keeper. “I have failed you master Marik.” He spoke aloud and craned his head back, eyes closed and Rod dangling in his fingertips. 

Marik swallowed hard, wanting to scream to his brother but the fear of him losing his cover was too high! He had taken years to get here and he wouldn't let his be the reason he stopped! No, nothing was going to stop him, not this, not the pharaoh, not- The lighting made its target clear, and in a moment of crackling made landfall.

Rishid fell to the ground in a heap after the strike hit him dead center, Marik’s ears popping from the noise and his world going silent as he watched his brother fall lifelessly to the ground. The silence was more defeaning than the lighting, and for a moment, he felt he was in the dark of a tomb with no light around and the familiar feeling of being trapped and scared hit him like the lighting that had struck his brother.

Someone cried out from the sidelines and Mokuba ducked, his hands covering his mouth as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man now on the ground. “Kaiba we have to help him!” He shouted to his older brother next to him who only looked on with cold eyes, he was staring at the shards of the Millenium Rod that had exploded when the lighting had struck “Marik.” The rod had been a fake, so this man wasn’t Marik. Jounouchi had caught on quickly for his intelligence. However it didn’t seem that he caught on the fact he needed to move away from the stage instead of toward the fallen man like he was now. 

“Jounouchi no! Get away from there!” Anzu screamed out and Yami darted forward only to stop, his eyes focusing on the shards of the Rod as he came to the same conclusion as Kaiba, this was not Marik. His eyes flicked to Jounouchi was moving toward the man and he felt his Aibou shout within his mind. “Jounouchi move away move away!” He cried, but Yami heard none of it as lightning struck again, the bolt of light colliding with the blonde violently as Jounouchi’s body spasmed. For a brief moment his eyes rolled back and the whites shown before he too fell to the ground across from the man. With that, the lightning suddenly stopped, but the clouds still pushed on, rolling thunder traveling away from the blimp as Ra’s anger subsided. 

Silence.  Painful silence. Anzu had her mouth covered and bright tears in her eyes, Yugi was shouting for his friend to get up and Mokuba was looking around wildly. “Brother we have to help them! They need a doctor!” He grabbed at Kaiba’s coat and he only raised a hand to quiet his brother. “Whoever stands first wins, or it’s a double forfeit.” He spoke cooly, thoughts racing across his mind as he tried to pinpoint who the real Marik could be. Up on the stage Isono repeated what he had just said, causing Jounouchi’s friends to lash out and scream encouragement. “But…” Mokuba’s eyes were wide and panicked as he stared at the still bodies on the stage. What had happened?! What was that freak storm and why had it stopped as quickly as it came?

Marik felt sweat race down his temple as the rod shook in his hand, Rishid’s closed eyes staring into his from where he lay. His throat was dry and a steady pressure was building at the base of his skull as the sound was still muffled and quiet from the first possibly fatal lightning strike. He didn’t even glance to the people next to him as he let his hand holding the rod drop to his side for a moment before a low creeping cold arced its way up his spine, outlining the carvings in his back. He would have shivered but a dissociative feeling had crept along his limbs, bringing with it a familiar numbness akin to Ra’s rage, but  _ colder _ .

He went to move his hands and found he couldn’t, he couldn’t move a limb and the world around him dimmed into tunnel vision and the cold feeling in his back moved all across his body only to settle across his stomach. The world around him had almost completely blacked itself out to him. The feeling across his stomach was unwelcome and yet somehow...familiar. He’d felt this before. Somewhere. Sometime. And it was dark again like in the tomb, the world blackened and the scared feeling returning tenfold as the cold across his stomach tightened and he felt fingers dig into his skin as a breath of air puffed across the nape of his neck.

His muscles tightened and he managed to turn his head slightly before a pressure against it and on his shoulder stopped him, the fingers dancing across his stomach as a low laugh escaped from the figure with a hold on him.

“Oh don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me. Has it really been that long?” A chilling voice swept across his ear and he balked away from it as much as he could, his hand raising to pry the figure away as he locked eyes with the stranger and froze. They were no stranger. Violet eyes far too much like his own stared back, half lidded with faint pinpricks of pupils that lay in his eyes. Those eyes.

“You’re not real, you’re just a figment of my imagination. I’m dreaming I-”

“Don’t start with that.” The voice snapped, a sneer punctuating his words. “It’s been 6 years and you already need a refresher on who I am? You are too lost in your own ego to recognize me when I shine through.” He purred and danced his fingers across Marik’s navel. Marik shivered violently and desperately tried to struggle out of this  _ things  _ grip. This wasn’t him, this couldn’t be him. That was impossible! 

“I don’t know who or what you are and I don’t care! Now get out of my head!” He snarled and gripped at the hands around his waist that refused to budge no matter how hard he pried at them. They felt like ice under his palms, ice that was almost sticky to the touch yet somehow still solid. He glanced down to them as the imposter laughed heartily. The hands were oozing a sickly purplish-black gelatinous liquid that dropped down into the black floor with a sick thud. The black liquid now covered his palms and stuck between his fingers as he pried at the arms around him.

The figure clucked his tongue and another pair of arms tapped their way up Marik’s, leaving a trail of small sticky dots as he lay them on his shoulders. “Now now, shut up and let me have my turn. That wretched cretin is finally gone, so that means it’s my time to come out to play.” He tightened his grip around Marik’s waist and the male heaved out a breath, struggling and clawing wildly as his heart began to hammer in his chest.

“Selfish disgusting child,” He hissed into his ear as the hand on his shoulders moved to wrap themselves around his neck. “How you wanted so desperately to die, yet you cling to life now. Why suffer when you can force that pain onto another?” He pressed his lips to the shell of Marik’s ear, his head jerking away from the puff of breath and icey lips that refused to move. He didn’t have the air to shout, he couldn’t scream, he could only wheeze out painful gasps of air as his lungs began to burn.

“Well, now it’s my turn to push that pain onto you.” The dark cooed and the fingers around Marik’s throat removed themselves and traveled up to his mouth as Marik pulled in a gasp of air. The momentary time for air was short lived as fingers forced their way into his mouth, the ooze slipping down his throat heavily and sticking to his tongue as his breath turned into a choked scream and the liquid bubbled in his mouth. “So vocal and desperate…” The oozing figure placed a gentle kiss onto Marik’s ear and smiled against it. “Scream all you like, only I can hear you.” His fingers pushed further into Marik’s mouth as both gelatinous hands found themselves traveling down his throat. Marik’s screams turning into gargles as his eyes stared upwards, blown wide and frantically racing back and forth as his limbs thumped weakly against the disgusting thing. 

The dark figure pressed into Marik’s back, staining the lavender crop top with it’s ooze and digging it’s fingers into Marik’s tender skin along his stomach. The boy’s struggles had grown feeble as he drowned on the liquid, where in the real world outside of his mind, he was screaming. Hands clamped onto the sides of his head as his consciousness killed itself, drowning in a sea of untamed pain and anger.

Yami stared at the rod Namu held and Yugi stiffened in alarm. “That’s the real Marik.” They both spoke and everyone collectively stepped away from the screaming man who was currently threatening Yami, pupils dilating wildly as sweat flowed off of him in streams. “What the hell is wrong with this guy?” Honda reeled back, putting an arm out in front of his friends just in case this freak tried anything. “I’m the real Marik.” Namu chuckled airily, hand pushed against the side of his head. “And you Pharaoh,” His pupils shrank to mere pinpricks in his eyes as they widened wildly. “You will suffer as I have.”

In his mind, the Marik that had lived with his family in the tomb for 10 long years ceased kicking. The oozing figure smiling wide. “Oh it’s been so long since I’ve inhabited my own body.” He chortled, feeling his limbs kick to life as nerves sparked synapses in his brain, fingers twitching experimentally before his hand felt the familiar sleek metal of the Millenium Rod. 

“Lets make my time in this body worth it.”


	2. An Eye for an Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things quickly spiral out of control as the darkness aboard the KC Duel Blimp quickly begins to spread and make its presence known. 
> 
> Mutilation ahead*
> 
> Also if you spot any typos please put them in the comments, and is this pacing alright? I'm always iffy with pacing in stories and I promise not all chapters are going to be this short or gruesome all the time. The next one will be definitely tamer.

The soft beeps and whoosh of pumps was the only sound in the small dark room, little electric lights flickering on the machines attached to the bed frame. Tubes linked themselves to Rishid who lay still in the bed, his face peaceful in the quiet of the room. The quiet drip of the iv was soothing, the small clear tubes running into his arms. Rishid was silent for now, heart still beating, but silent.

A loud thunk sounded outside of the metal sliding door, small clicks following it as the door’s mechanics accepted the key and slid open. Light shafted into the room and illuminated the small bed in the far corner, a shadow falling over it as a figure stepped into the doorway. Lithe fingers slid along the smooth sides of the Millenium Rod as the figure hummed idly. Booted feet stepped into the room as the body that had slid from the wall prevented the mechanical door from closing, the mechanism stopping before hitting it and reopening only to repeat the process.

The man hummed a small tune as he strode forward, tapping the gold rod in his hand to the tune and taking long happy strides. “Oh Rishid look at you.” He sang and looked down at the comatose man. “You’ve been such a thorn in my side for far too long.” He purred and lowered his head down to Rishid’s mouth, listening for the faint breathing. “And still kicking despite it all, oh well. You outlived your purpose long ago.” He sighed and the slid the rods blade from its sheath.

He tapped the blade against his long fingers and smiled happily. “Now how to do this? Should I savor it?” He hummed and trailed the knife slowly from the male’s dark collar bone to the base of his throat, leaving a little ruby trail. “Or should I just get it done and over with.” He snarled and raised it high above his head, violet eyes glittering with hate.

He lowered it slightly and sighed. “No… that’s not right at all.” Leaning an elbow on the man's chest he danced his fingers along his torso. The new Marik pushed out his lower lip and he tapped the bladed end of the rod on the divet of Rishid’s collarbone. “You are no help at all, I can’t do anything interesting in this place…” He sighed and suddenly froze.

“Ohhhh I know.” He purred and cocked his head to the side, half lidded eyes scanning up Rishid’s calm face.

Marik moved the rod between his fingers, angling it above Rishid’s closed eye. With a crooked smile he moved his other hand to give the head of the Rod a firm tap, the razor blade inching closer as the base slid through his fingers. “After I’m done with you, I’ll be taking that filthy seal off of your face.” He sang and tapped it again, the blade centimeters from his eyelid.

Marik’s hands began to shake with excitement as his heart picked up within his ribcage, his eyes widening madly. The eye of Wdjat on his forehead lighting up in a fiery golden light as his thin resolve shattered. Raising his other hand high he brought it down with a resounding smack on the rod.

The blade easily slipped into Rishid’s eye with a sickening squelch. The other eye flew open in pain and terror as Marik grinned widely, pupils dilating as he shook violently. Rishid spluttered in confusion and pain, hands wrapping around Marik’s as he tried vainly to pry the rod out of his eye socket, garbled nonsense sputtering from his mouth. Marik chuckled lowly and twisted the handle of the blade to deepen the wound. Rishid’s arms spasming as liquid from his pupil and cornea flowed out of the corners and down his tanned face. “Scream.” Marik hissed, his face almost touching his brothers. “Do it just for me _ brother _ .” His voice shuddered and a fiery feeling of satisfaction raced through his veins. “Tell me just how much it feels to slip into hell.” His voice hitched and he dug the rod further, earning a scream from the man below him before a quick jerk of the rod sent it through the his eye socket in a low crunch.

Marik craned his head back and let out a satisfied groan as Rishid’s grip on his arm loosened, giving the rod a shake for extra measure and twisting it. A harsh shudder running through his arms as the motion pushed anger through his system.

In a flash, a snarl formed on his face and he tore the rod out of Rishid’s eye socket only to slam it back down again. Marik ripped it out and in a fit of violence brutalized the man’s head. The body had lost it’s life the second it penetrated his skull but the 6 years of imprisonment in his own mind drove Marik to continuously bloody the corpse.

Small fragments of bone protruded from Rishid’s cheekbone as Marik brought the rod down yet again, the blade hitting on an angle and skipping across the bone to spear through the nasal cavity and through his face. Loud heaving breaths ripped through Marik’s lungs as he stared down at the corpse with wide eyes, spittle had gathered on his lip and he raised a gilded arm to wipe it off. Shakily he unwound his clenched fist from the bloody rod and brought it to his side. His body shivering from the toxic mix of anger and adrenaline. Marik gripped at the hem of his black shirt and wiped his hand, leaving a dark smear across the fabric as his breathing slowed and calmed.

The violet half lidded gaze admired his own handy work. The entire left side of Rishid’s face from the cheekbone to the eyebrow was a torn visceral mess, smears of blood stretching from the gaping hole to the edge of the pillow which was now permanently stained. Sliding his fingers around the handle of the Millenium item, he pulled it slowly from the brutalized hole and reveled in the slick sound it made. Small bits of viscera stuck to the blade and Marik hummed idly. Calmly he grabbed the robes Rishid wore, his own ghouls robes. Quickly and efficiently he cleaned the blade on the dark purple robes and began to hum the same tune from earlier.

“Do you remember that song?” Marik smiled warmly down to the corpse. “You and sister used to sing it to me when I was bedridden. You did your best to cheer me up and make me feel better about what my father had done to me.” He sneered lowly and inspected the blade, still sharp as ever.

“You see where that got him.” His lips curled cruelly and a laugh tore loudly out of his throat. “Oh wait, can you see? Not with that I suppose.” The end of the rod tapped pointedly on the shattered cheekbone below where the eye had once been.

 

“Now about this seal.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jounouchi’s foot hopped anxiously against the carpeted floor of Yugi’s room, his friends eyes were wide with worry. “You really should be in bed.” His friend stressed and Anzu nodded in agreement from across the two of them. “Whatever happened wasn’t natural.” Jounouchi’s head was in the palm of his hand hands as his foot jumped faster. 

“You said it stopped after I was hit yeah?” Anzu and Yugi nodded. “That doesn’t make any sense! How does a lighting storm like that suddenly start and stop? And why did it hit only me and that guy? It just doesn’t add up.” He stressed, shaking his head in his hands.

Yugi frowned and leaded back into the couch seat. “And what about the real Marik? Whatever happened to him he just… turned into someone else.” Yugi frowned and Yami hummed thoughtfully from within his mind. “Perhaps there is a spirit in the Millenium Rod, much like the Ring and Puzzle.” He offered and Yugi nodded. “That could very well be it, but I don’t know. He called himself the real Marik and that the other one was gone now.” His brows furrowed in confusion and frustration. “Maybe he just meant the man who was dueling?”

Anzu watched her friend’s features shift in concern. He was talking to his other self, and whatever they were discussing must have been important. No doubt it was over what had happened in Jounouchi’s duel. She looked to Jounouchi who had stood suddenly. “I have to go check on him. Whoever that guy was, he definitely wasn’t Marik. He dueled too fairly to be that scumbag.” He looked to Yugi who had stood too. “You aren’t going alone, not with Marik around.” Honda from across the room nodded and looked to Otogi.

“I’ll go with those two just in case anything happens, you watch the other alright? And don’t let anyone but us in.” Otogi nodded in understanding and leaned against the wall by the door.

“You guys be careful alright?” Honda nodded as the three headed out of the room, the sound of the sliding door shutting sounding loudly in the near baren halls.

Jounouchi looked from one end to the other and his mouth formed a straight line. “Now where’s he at?” Yugi looked up to his friend and motioned to the left side of the hall. “The infirmary would be my best bet.” Honda and Jounouchi nodded in agreement and began to follow the small plaques along the sides of the rooms, small arrows pointing toward the intense care ward.

“He’s gotta be over here.” Jounouchi marched forward ahead of the other two and Honda increased his pace a little, sticking closer to Yugi though. “Wait slow down!” Honda shouted to his friend who was now running, frantically looking from left to right in search of an occupied room. 

Rounding a corner he stopped abruptly, his feet suddenly feeling like lead. The boy turned quickly and kept from gagging as he held a hand out for Yugi and Honda to stop. Yugi’s brow furrowed in concern as he slowed next to Honda. “What’d you find Jounouchi?”

Jounouchi looked back up from the floor and swallowed hard. There was a pair of legs sticking out from a door, smears of blood covering the wall and parts of the mechanical sliding door that repeated tried to shut with the body blocking the way. Shoving down the rising feeling to vomit and run, he walked forward carefully to the door. “Guys stay back.” His voice shook slightly as he saw the long jagged X mark in the doctors back, the white lab coat stained around the torn edges.

Putting a hand out he stopped the door from trying to close again and dared to look inside. “Oh fuck.” He sucked in a harsh breath and ducked away from the door, dry heaving till his eyes watered in the hall. Yugi peered around the corner and his eyes widened in shock for only a brief moment before Yami forcefully took control, blocking Yugi from being able to see the corpse on the ground completely.  Yugi was thrust into his mind’s room with force and stumbled slightly, eyes wide with shock and terror.

 

“Yami was that a-”

 

“Yes.” Yami answered him quickly, his voice firm and cold as he did his best to sound confident in the face of what he had seen.

 

Yugi’s small frame began to shake and his hands buried themselves into his hair. This couldn’t be real. This had just been a tournament, no one was supposed to-

Jounouchi came running down the hall toward them, grabbing Yami’s arm and dragging him away. “We have to tell Kaiba and the others.” He spoke quickly and hoarsely, his throat burning from dry heaving so much.

“What did you see?” Honda ran along them, having not seen down the hall like Yugi had.

“That guy who wasn’t Marik,” Jounouchi started, his heart hammering in his chest, causing his words to waver slightly. “He’s dead. I think the real Marik killed him and the doctor.”

Honda’s eyes widened with dread. “So that freak mur-”

“YES HONDA.” Jounouchi snapped and heaved again, almost stumbling against the wall before recovering and pumping his legs harder.

“We gotta tell the others.” He breathed.

 

“We gotta get the hell off this blimp.”

 


End file.
